Rapper takes careful commercial pop shot

LL Cool J: 14 Shots to the Dome (Columbia).

MILITANT rap slang would have it that the title of LL Cool J's fifth album, 14 Shots to the Dome was threatening gunshots to the brain, but it seems he felt the 14 pops to the dome represented the possibility of his songs going to number one on the singles charts.

And he is not far off. At least half of the songs sound as if they could top the charts.

Unfortunately, that is not all LL Cool J wants, and that is why 14 Shots is ultimately a failure, albeit a pleasurable one.

LL Cool J wants legendary status. He wants to be one of the handful of rappers who manage to cross over to pop with lasting credibility and power. This has yet to come to a man who has spent the last eight years in a musical flux.

He virtually reprises his landmark 1990 album Mama Said Knock You Out. The first two songs - How I'm Comin' and Buckin' Em Down - are Mama Said revisited with an even harder beat and an identical aggressive heavy bass delivery.